This year, Schleck started his season with a string of DNFs and more doubts as to how seriously he takes his training. Luckily, things started looking up by the end of April when he managed to finish Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, two of the hardest one-day races of the spring.

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After a month of training on his own, Schleck now comes to California hoping to continue his upward trend. And while this year’s Tour de France might come too soon for the former champion to launch a serious bid of his own, he can certainly ride himself into good-enough shape to challenge for a stage win or two by finishing this week’s race.

Which foreign riders will challenge van Garderen for the overall title at this year’s Amgen Tour of California?

While Saxo-Tinkoff’s Michael Rogers is a former ATOC champion, this year’s course should prove too challenging for the Australian. A better bet might be Vacansoleil-DCM rider Lieuwe Westra (say: LOU-va WEST-ra). The 30-year-old Dutchman specializes in shorter stage races, as evidenced by his win in last year’s Tour of Denmark and second-place finish (and stage win) at Paris-Nice.

As the national time-trial champion of the Netherlands, Westra has the best chance to challenge van Garderen in Stage 6’s individual time trial. He can also climb: His Paris-Nice stage victory came at the summit of the Cote de la Croix-Neuve, a 2-mile climb whose 10 percent average grade is very similar to those at the end of Stage 2 in Greater Palm Springs and Stage 6 in San Jose.

Perhaps most importantly, Vacansoleil-DCM has brought a strong team to support the Dutchman, including Belgium’s Thomas de Gendt, the third-place finisher in last year’s Giro d’Italia. De Gendt should be most helpful on Stage 7’s summit finish atop Mount Diablo, the climb most likely to challenge Westra’s bid to become the second Dutchman to win the ATOC.